Vacuum apparatus for boiling brine.



No. 702,264. Patntedlune I0, I902.

6. ML VIS. VACUUM APPARATUS FOR BOILING BRINE.

(Applicatiun filed July 13, 1900.)

(Nb Model.)

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is a specification.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VAC U U M APPARATUS FOR BOILING BRINE.

SZ PECIFI QATIQNfOrming part of Letters Patent No. 702,264, dated June 10, 1902.

Application filed July 13,1900.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GERHARD NICOLAAS VIS, doctor of philosophy and chemist, a subject of the Queen of the Netherlands, residing at Schweizerhalle, near Basie, Switzerland, have tus for Boiling Brine, of which the following This invention relates to an improvement upon that class of vacuum apparatus for boil-i ing brine shown and described in my priorapplication, Serial No. 741,417, filed December 23, 1899, thepanof which communicates at the lower conical end through a tubular extension or leg with a brine vessel opento' the atmosphere and is provided with a pipe descendingfrom its top part and dipping with itslower openoend into a liquid seal, the pan being fed withbrine through its said leg by means of the combined action of the vacuum in the pan and the air-pressure on the brine in said vessel, and the salt separated out in the pan and'accumulating inthe conical bottom part being "periodically discharged from the pan by causing air to penetrate into the same through said normally sealed pipe, asdescribed in my said application. In using this "apparatus I have found that the supply ofbrine to the pan through its tubularextension isapt to interferewith the accumulation ofthe'separated salt in the lower part of its conical bottom, so that at each dischargelagreat portion of the sepa rated salt is left behind in the'pan, and consequently the dischargeoperation has to be repeated at very short intervals. Moreover, this frequency of the discharge furthers the formation of crusts on the heating-pipes, part of which becomes uncovered at each back rush of the brine.

To obviate these inconveniences is the object of the present invention, which to this end consists in connecting the pan 'at a point above its heating-pipes through a feed-pipe with a brinereservoir, so that the pan is at all times fed with the brine from above its heating-pipes, whereby the inorustration of said pipes is retarded and no counter eifect opposed to thefaccumulation of the salt in the lower bottompart of the pan. To still further retard the formation of crusts and at the same time to better utilize the fuel, the

Serial No. 28,494. (No model.)

brine is preheated by means of the condensation-water forming in the heating-pipes of the pan, said water and the brine being caused to meet each other on the counter-current principles. lnvented a new and useful Vacuum Appara-,'

The improved apparatus is illustrated on the annexed sheet of drawings, which is an elevation of the complete apparatus.

1 indicates the pan with the heating-pipes 2 8, the open brine vessel below, into which the pan dips, with its tubular bottom extension 4, and 5 the pipe; which descends from the top part of the pan and is provided with an upper enlarged portion 6 for preventing liquid to'be sucked in the pan from the airpipe and dips with its lower open end into the sealing liquid contained in the open vessel 7.

8 is the brine-supply pipe connecting the pan at a point above the heating-pipes 2 with the brine-reservoir 1 1. As shown, the supply-pipe 8 is made the heat-receiving member of a heat-exchanging apparatus 9, fed through pipe 10, with the condensation-water forming in the heating-pipes 2.

When the crusts forming upon the heatingpipes of the pan have grown to such thickness as to interfere with the proper heat transmission through the walls of said pipes to the surrounding brine, which occurs after a considerably longerboiling period than in the aforesaid apparatus in which the pan is fed with brine through its bottom extension from the vessel below, the vacuum-generating apparatus is stopped, so that the brine rushes back from the pan in the vessel 3 below, the pan extension 4 closed by placing a plate against its mouth, the vacuum-generating apparatus restarted, and the pan refilled through pipe 8 with fresh brine, which readily dissolves away the greater part of the crusts, when the plate is removed from the extension 4; and the boiling continued. To generate and maintain the vacuum, I may use any of the well-known apparatus heretofore used for that purpose; but I prefer,as is alsoknown, to connect the top of the pan through pipe 12 with acondenser 13 of the well-known cataract type, which is connected with an air-pump 14E.

The vessel 3 is provided in its bottom part with a conveyer 15 for carrying the salt to another conveyer 16, by which it is transported toadrying plant. (Not shown.) These arrangements are well-known to those skilled in the art, and therefore need not be described in a more detailed manner.

I prefer-t0 provide the supply-pipe 8 with a cock 8*, so that the pan can from time to time be filled with pure (preferably hot) water to perfectly free it from crusts and other deposits.

I claim In apparatus for boiling brine the combination with a brine vessel open to the atmosphere, a pan provided at its lower end with a tubular extension located in said vessel, a system of heating-pipes located in said pan, means for creating a vacuum in said pan, a pipe descending from the top part of of the pan, substantially as and for the purpose stated.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses. I

GERI-IARD NICOLAAS VIS. \Vitnessesi GEORGE GIFFORD, ALBERT GRAETER, 

